Creating breathing spaces for teenagers in the Welsh language: the case of theatre-in-Education

Abstract

Despite the vibrancy and potential Welsh-language Theatre-in-Education (TIE) has thus far received very little scholarly attention. This article aims to address that gap in research by focusing on Welsh TIE's role in engaging teenagers with and through the Welsh language. The first part of this article outlines the socio-political, linguistic and educational context out of which TIE grew. The second part demonstrates how Welsh-language TIE responds to the Welsh context and has found ways of carving out spaces for teenagers to engage in the Welsh language beyond the classroom, providing a potential model for other minority language contexts.